23 Easy, 5-Minute (or Less) Habits To Live a Healthier and More Productive 2023

Any type of lifestyle change starts with small, actionable habits

Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash

1. Meditating. Studies have shown that even 5 minutes of meditation can significantly reduce stress and enhance mental well-being if done regularly. The key here is consistency. Here’s a 5-minute meditation by the Headspace app and there are many other options available on YouTube.
2. Recording a 1-second video or taking a Live Photo every day. At the end of the year, you can compile them together to have a memory of every single day of that year. I started doing this at the beginning of 2022 using this app. I promise the end result will be worth it.
3. Journaling. This is hands-down the best habit I started in 2022, as it forced me to verbalize my thoughts and helped me become more aware of my feelings.
4. Writing down things you’re grateful for. I like to do this alongside journaling. We often stress or fret about the things that trouble us in life. Take time to remind yourself of the good things and people around you. This helps you appreciate them even more.
5. Texting or calling your family. Such an easy thing to do, but even a text will mean so much. Many of us don’t live with our families, so we should actively try to be present in their lives.
6. Setting a highlight at the beginning of every day. This habit is from the book Make Time, which emphasizes that by picking a daily highlight to focus on, you will make time for it, be more productive, and get real work done. This is the method that got me to start writing.
7. Taking a cold shower in the morning. This is an instant wake-up signal to your mind and body and has many, well-documented benefits.
8. Using hand sanitizer before you eat. This is the easiest way to protect yourself from sicknesses. Make this as convenient for you as possible by having sanitizers at home, work desk, and also in your everyday bag.
9. Making your bed. Start your day off right by doing this! It’s an instant achievement that sets the right tone for the rest of the day. Plus, you get to come home to a tidy bedroom.
10. Checking Google Maps (or another transit app) before heading out. Even if you take the same route every day, you never know when there may be severe delays. Save yourself the trouble (and time).
11. Taking photos of your receipts. You’ll thank yourself for doing this when you’re going through your monthly statements. I like storing these in the Notes app using the document scanner feature (IOS).
12. Writing down 2–3 sentences of your most storyworthy moment of the day. I learned this from Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks. Over time, you’ll remember your days better and you’ll have tons of stories to share with others.
13. Putting on sunscreen every day. Protect your LARGEST organ from premature aging, acne, and even skin cancer. Doctors recommend using sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30.
14. Brushing your teeth for at least 2 minutes. Dental health is extremely expensive, so keep your teeth healthy. Try using an electric toothbrush that automatically stops after 2 minutes.
15. Reading before you sleep. This helps keep you away from your electronics and prepares your brain for sleep. Even if you’re extremely tired, try your best to get 5 minutes of reading in before you snooze.
16. Making a to-do list for tomorrow. According to David Allen’s popular GTD framework, our brains are not designed to store information. Doing this frees up space in your brain and makes sure that you don’t forget essential tasks. I would limit this to at most 5 things.
17. Washing your dishes while cooking. This dramatically decreases the amount of time you spend washing dishes after your meal. Also, prevents week-long dirty dishes!
18. Checking the weather app before you leave your home. This could save you from getting drenched without an umbrella, sweating through your shirt, or freezing your toes off.
19. Saying thank you to service workers. You should do this for everyone, but especially for service workers. They often work the most underappreciated jobs, so a kind word could make their day :)
20. Switching between different notification settings when at home and work. Be intentional in maintaining a healthy separation of work and life. Creating different focus modes (IOS) is super helpful for this.
21. Listening to white/pink noise when sleeping. Spotify has a ton of these, which have helped me improve my quality of sleep and feel more restful.
22. Eating fruit. Fruits are incredibly healthy. We all know it. And yet, this is probably my most neglected food category. Pro tip: after buying fruits, put them somewhere you can see them!
23. Doing a 5-minute at-home workout. If you don’t have a consistent workout routine yet, try starting with this — the most important thing is to get started. Remember, health is wealth.

Thank you for reading!

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